Gotta love sign out!

So I visited a local Path department today where I was invited to sit in on the Resident's meeting and in Surgical Pathology, where they sign out specimans from the hospital. Well what can I say, I LOVE it! I was even able to answer a few questions too which is really great given that some days I question why I'm doing this in the first place.

The Resident's meeting was pimarily a highlight of what happened over the weekend, but was also a teaching meeting as well. The Path director put some slides up (I've gotta review my path and histo since I've forgotten a LOT) and then asked the Residents questions. GREAT learning opportunity for board prep, I just wish things were broken down into organ systems.

The most interesting case I saw today was a yolk sac tumor in a man, which apprentely isn't very uncommon. Another intriguing case from both a personal and professinal point of view, was the case of the 40 something year old double mastectomy patient. That is PROPHYLACTIC mastectomy patient. YIKES!!!!! I'm guessing she had a strong family history and was also a likely BRCA1 mutation carrier (I don't know for sure because I had to leave early).

The Chief pathologist at the scope asked us (all women) how we would feel about having such a procedure only to discover that we had no abnormalities. One young resident said just fine and despite my family history, I said I would have to think about it. There are a TON of potential side affects to having such a procedure but for some, I guess the benefits outweigh the risks.

At any rate, it dawned on me that by the time I actually get to the residency portion of my training, I will have been reading slides for over 10 years. And hopefully, all that experience will help me become the best Pathologist I can be!